Hello friends! I wanted to announce that on March 18th—my birthday no less—I received the Pioneer Award for a piece at the Juried Student Art Exhibition at Sierra College!

A bit of history: last year, my poster design was chosen out of many in a contest to represent the student art show:

Design with original illustration for Sierra College poster contest

That was a huge honor for me. Not only did I win a small monetary prize, but the dean of the art department told me that I would make an awesome graphic designer. I hold those words near and dear to my heart—especially during exam times!

Last year, I also had a piece selected by a jury for the student show:

“Death and the Sun,” 18×24 Hand-Burnished Print

These Juried shows are tough to get into, so I was honored to have a piece accepted. In fact, I had done a whole solo show of my hand-burnished prints a few months prior to the student show; if you are interested in my process, you can check out this nifty little youtube of me making the art:

And now, fast forward to the present!
For this year’s show, I was honored to have all three of my submissions accepted, which really blew me away. It is really hard to get into these shows, and the judges are known to be picky. Here are my three paintings:

When I looked around at all the submissions to the show, I saw that there was some serious competition. I thought to myself, just getting three pieces into the show was reward enough, and I tried not to hope against hope that I might win an award.

I was absolutely flabbergasted when my name was called, and stunned when I received the Pioneer Art Club Award for my painting, “Birdcage.” Not only did I receive a monetary award, but I also was gifted with a year’s membership to the Pioneer Art Club.

I am so grateful to Sierra College and the Pioneer Arts Club for renewing and inspiring my painting and design creativity! And thanks to all my readers and friends who have supported me throughout my creative journey:)